While I’m not normally in the habit of listening to J-Pop (or in this case, K-Pop) I somehow found this video tonight and got hooked. Cheesy? Yes. Catchy? That too. And apparently I’m not the only one who thinks so, since this YouTube video has already gotten over 21 million hits.
I think the reason why I like this song so much is that it reminds me of Kelis’ “Millionaire,” featuring Andre 3000, which is one of my all-time favorite songs. You can listen to that here:
I’ve always been curious about why things are the way they are, and one of the things that I’ve been wondering about a lot the last few years is where my love of electronic music originated. Lately I’ve attributed it to my love of New Wave music, but today I realized that that may be a bit of revisionist history. Truth be told, we didn’t really listen to a lot of 80’s music in the 80’s. My dad was a classic rock guy through and through, and I grew up on a steady diet of Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin, Kinks, Skynard and the like. It actually wasn’t until the 90’s when we moved to Hoosick Falls and I heard the Sunday Rewind on EQX that I started really paying attention to 80’s music. I didn’t even start buying music on my own until the mid-90’s.
Somehow I came across a video today describing the history of the Metroid franchise, which got me feeling very nostalgic, especially when they got to Super Metroid, which is one of my favorite video games of all time. The music had stuck with me over the years, and somehow one thing led to another and I was listening to other various video game soundtracks on YouTube. It was at this point that I realized that old school video games, SNES games in particular, might have been the real origin of my love for electronic music, especially since I spent SO much time playing these games as a kid. These were my REAL first experiences with music.
Probably the first piece of video game music I remember REALLY liking was “The Oracle” from Secret of Mana. This song played as you fought the final boss of the game (or one of the final bosses), who was this giant floating scary skeletal man that was really intimidating, a feeling that was helped in no small part by this freaky, intense music. I remember when I first got to this boss I almost immediately paused the game just so I could listen to the music a little longer, it blew my mind so much.
(Fun side fact: To add to the “Oh shit!” feeling you got when seeing the final boss, I always thought it sounded like someone was repeatedly saying “shit” in the song. Hear it for yourself.)
Secret of Mana was filled with great music, much like my favorite game of all time, Chrono Trigger. My favorite song, “Schala’s Theme,” played after you discovered this mystical city in the clouds called Zeal. It has this cool shimmery chime sound that really gave you the feeling that you were on an adventure in some magical realm. This song was apparently so memorable that I was surprised to find it recently used as a beat on Wiz Khalifa’s Kush and Orange Juice mixtape.
Finally I’d like to share a few songs from the Donkey Kong Country series to show you how beautiful video game music could be for me as a kid. This first song called “Fear Factory” foreshadows a lot of the synth stuff from Australia that I listen to now, and even has a little bit of trance thrown in there for good measure (check it out at the 1:00 mark). Was trance even around in 1994?
Probably one of the songs people remember best from the first game was “Aquatic Ambiance”, which played during the water levels, making them easily one of your favorite parts of the game. This actually reminds me a bit of a lot of the more mellow Drum & Bass songs, just without the D&B part.
Finally I’ve got for you probably the best song in any of the Kong games, “Stickerbrush Symphony”. This is neo-retro synth music at its best. Is it any surprise that the first musical genre I went really crazy for in college was trance?
I’m not sure why, but I remember distinctly going to the store to pick out my birthday presents one year and asking for Donkey Kong Country and The Offspring’s Smash album, whose “Come Out And Play” was really popular on the radio that year. While The Offspring have become basically a non-entity in my brain, the music from Donkey Kong Country has stuck with me to this day. I guess it’s really no surprise that the 8-bit/16-bit midi music from those days would have such a significant impact on me, since even today a fabricated sound is more interesting to me than a natural one.
Anyone else have any fond video game memories?
So as I’m watching the new video for Famijen’s "Det Var Jag" the other day, the second single from his second album Mänskligheten, (OK video, great song) I’m thinking to myself, why does this guy seem so familiar?
So I looked into my iTunes, when suddenly it dawned on me. It may have dawned on you now too. Famijen’s "Det Snurrar I Min Skalle" was actually featured at the end of my first mixtape for Amy. It was a song I downloaded off of some music blog years ago and I never really looked into them further, aside from really liking that one song.
So I did a little research. I found the video for "Det Snurrar I Min Skalle" and it’s actually pretty cool:
My favorite part of the video is also my favorite part of the song. At the 1:15 mark you’ll see an old woman REALLY getting into the song. (Apparently this video also won the Grammy award for best music video in Sweden!)
Through the magic of the internet I was able to download both albums he’s done, and surprise! They’re actually pretty good. Not sold yet? Check out this video for "Kom Säger Dom", also from the first album:
This one for "När Planeterna Stannat", the first single from the second album, is pretty cute too. Simple, but very effective at getting across how fun the song is:
I ❤ Sweden.
This video has me mesmerized. It’s clever, sexy, and a little weird…you know, all the things I love. Tellier’s album Sexuality has been around for a while now, but it’s not widely known in the States, so if you like his sexy grooves in this song you should probably check out the whole album. It’s great chill sexytime music.
OK, OK, before you rush to conclusions, YES, this is a Justin Bieber song and, NO, it’s not what you think. Some cool guy named Shamantis took Bieber’s song “U Smile” and slowed it down by 800% to make something completely different and uniquely beautiful. It songs like 35 epic minutes of angels singing at the beach, similar to the kind of drone-y dreamwave stuff that M83 does. It really is amazing and is great background music for when you’re trying to relax and let the stress of your day just wash on over you. Definitely check it out:
The more that mysteriously leaks out on the internet from iamamiwhoami, the more interested I become in this band. I wrote about them previously here, and their newest song/video is keeping with the vague tradition with another letter themed song–this time entitled y–that has to be one of my favorite things by them so far. This video is a real VIDEO, full of iconic imagery and hidden art school meanings that you can try and wrap your head around until the next video comes out. This has to be one of my more favorite videos that I’ve seen lately. Check it out:
Man, I can’t wait to hear something official from these guys, like a album announcement? Please??
As much as it feels it should be over, summer is not over yet. Just ask the 96+ degree heat I felt yesterday. In Seattle! WTF, weather? My apartment is not equipped to deal with that kind of heat. I basically melted into my couch all day, getting up occasionally to drink more water than I think I’ve ever drank in one 24 hour period before. It was sizzling.
While I’m not the biggest fan of summer in the world (why do you think I moved to Seattle?), there are two things about summer I do like: summer music and summer camp. I have this odd fascination with summer camp I can’t really explain–especially since I’ve technically never been to a summer camp–but whenever I see a summer camp movie from the 70’s/80’s I just go into bliss mode. Something deep inside about fond memories of being by a lake in the woods at summertime. Couple that feeling with summer music and you get the London band, Summer Camp.
Summer Camp just put out a new video for their single, “Round The Moon”, which is off their upcoming Young EP. The footage is from a Swedish teen movie from 1970, which perfectly fits their young love, retro summery theme and love of John Hughes movies. Check it out here:
Also I have for you a bonus fan video for their song “Ghost Train”, which is very much in the same spirit of what they do.
They also have a great photo blog, called Summer Camp, that I like to look at from time to time. It consists entirely of found photos from the 80’s. You might even notice I got the cover to the Lazy Mountains Mixtape from there…
Sorry I haven’t posted in a while. My mom and my sister came to visit me last week and I was all busy with that, and then this week? Well, I just haven’t felt very inspired. Leave it to Kristen Bell to snap me out of my funk!
This video is a little on the weird side, much like Yeasayer is, but the great song and Kristen’s loveliness will get you through it, I promise. I actually like Yeasayer’s new album, Odd Blood, quite a bit, and if you haven’t already picked it up, you really should. One of the top albums of the year, for sure.
[The Golden Filter does a great remix of this song that you should pick up…or just wait for a future mixtape, because I plan on including it at some point.]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/video/2010/aug/13/yeasayer-madder-red
[Some jerk took the video down. Until then, use the above link to see it on the guardian website.]
UPDATE: Finally on YouTube!
I had a spark of inspiration for this mix as I was listening songs randomly thrown into my iTunes mixtape folder, trying to organize a playlist. After listening to a few downtempo tracks in a row I thought, why not make an entire mixtape around that theme? With everyone going on summer vacations now, or at least partying extra hard on the weekends with this nice summer weather, we could all use something a little more relaxing for Sunday morning/afternoon than the usual club bangers that have populated my previous mixes. I gathered together as many chillout songs as I could find, messed around with the order, and thus the Lazy Mountains Mixtape was born.
This mixtape isn’t TOO different from my others, in that you are still going to get a lot of the same great electronic music and rare blog tracks I’ve tracked down from all over. The BPM has just slowed down a little. Things are more relaxed. While a few slightly more upbeat tracks did sneak their way into the mix there isn’t anything on here that should be too much for a late morning. You should be able to relax and tap your foot at the same time.
Highlights include:
The two songs that open and close the mixtape, The Other’s “Bushido” and Amanda Palmer’s “Creep (live in Prague)” really helped shape the mixtape as a whole. When I re-listened to “Bushido” I was really taken with how cool and chill the track’s dub influence on a traditional Japanese song sounded, and when I heard Amanda Palmer’s take on a Radiohead classic, I knew that was how I had to end the album. Her stripped down version of the song with only her and a ukulele just screamed final song to me.
Bag Raider’s “Shooting Stars” has one of my all-time favorite melodies, with a synth line that just builds and builds into pure heaven. It’s definitely guaranteed to brighten your day whenever you hear it.
Speaking of brightening your day, I snuck another one of my all-time favorite tracks in after I figured out the theme to this mixtape. I already love everything that Bent does, but “So Long Without You” from their album The Everlasting Blink is about as beautiful as it gets. It has an old-timey honkey tonk beat stretched over some electronics and some heavenly vocals. Just when you think the song might get old, wait until the new verse kicks in at the 3:15 minute mark.
I love the song “Fools Rush In” and I love it when Zooey Deshanel of She & Him covers classic songs. So imagine my pleasure when I discovered that Levi’s Pioneer Sessions got them to cover just that song.
Seu Jorge (you may know him as the guy who did the Portuguese covers in A Life Aquatic) has a new album coming out, and “Everybody Loves The Sunshine” is the perfect slow jam to play while you’re getting a tan…or making babies.
All that and a lot more in my new mixtape. I hope you enjoy it. Tell your friends!
Jamaica has another great video out (remember when I posted about them here?), and I can’t wait to hear more from these guys. After two songs I’m already a huge fan. I think an album might be out on August 23rd, but I’m not sure.
This time these Parisan dance rockers made the most metal video in the history of metal, without actually playing any metal. See for yourself what I mean:
JAMAICA – ‘Short and Entertaining’ VIDEO from bermudapants on Vimeo.
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